I visited Santorini last night. Not the island in the Aegean Sea southeast of Greece, but the…read moreexcellent restaurant in Dotlingen, Germany. It was a memorable visit. The restaurant features Greek and Italian fare and the menu features 236 food items! The decor is fancier than Spartan, but far less intimidating than Formal. In other words, perfect for the home cooked quality and large portions for which this restaurant is famous locally. My choice (#210) was Gyros Gorgonzola (10 Euros), a delightful combination of tender gyros meat, red peppers, and sweet onions, baptized with a luscious and fragrant gorgonzola sauce. A generous quantity of exquisitely flavored rice was also crowded onto the large dinner plate. To make matters even better, a side of chopped iceberg lettuce and tomato wedges drizzled with a vinaigrette was also delivered to me by the attentive server. I couldn't figure out what the special ingredient or spice was that made the tomatoes so interesting. Oh, it was something called "Fresh", since they were grown about a click down the road and delivered daily. Even the uber-popular regional beer, Haake-Beck, was fresh from the tap, cold, deliciously bright and thirst-quenching. Who needs that little island in the Aegean Sea anyway? It doesn't get any better than this.

Schnitzel? I can think of not one reason not to have schnitzel, and LandHotel Dotlingen has…read moreprovided NINE reasons to order it. That's right, you can have your schnitzel prepared in nine distinctly different ways. My choice was the Zigeunerschnitzel (14.50 Euros), because it has such an interesting sauce: Bell pepper (red and yellow), onion, garlic, tomato and spices. Oh my! And it also came with a nice green salad with a tasty house vinaigrette. A bit too much dressing was applied to my salad, but it was good nonetheless. No croutons, but the tomato wedges and lettuce were very fresh. The very generous cut of pork was nicely breaded and fried, but disappointingly tough to cut with the butter knives provided (although with a serrated edge). The taste was there, definitely there. And so were delicious potato croquettes, my preferred alternative to mashed or french fried. Our server generously brought out an extra bowl of hot croquettes, which disappeared "schnell". The salads appeared 10 minutes after the server took our orders, and the entrees came, steaming hot, about 12 minutes later. Dang, those Germans sure are efficient ! My choice of beer was the Franziskaner (3.50 Euros), and it was cold and excellent. Incidentally, this restaurant presents a nice, intimate and quiet setting for people who appreciate such things. Eight more varieties of schnitzel remaining? I'll be back.